208 The Imperial Government
judicialcases),ab epistulis(todowithletters),anda libellis(todowithpeti-
tions).But,inawaywhichremainsverypuzzling,theevidencerevealsno
imperial‘‘secretaries’’whosetitlessuggestresponsibilityforthepositiveor
generalformsofinstructionwhichemperorsdidindeedissue:themandata,
orcodesofinstructiongiventoprovincialgovernorsandotherofficials;or
imperialedicta,generalpronouncementswhichwerenot(inprinciple)ad-
dressedtoanyonecommunityorindividual.Itremainsquiteunclearwhich
‘‘secretaries,’’ if any, were concerned in the composition of the sometimes
extensive,detailed,anddeclamatoryimperialedicta.
The fact that our evidence does not even record the titles of any offi-
cialsconcernedwiththesetwoimportanttypesofimperialpronouncement
merelyaccentuatesamoregeneralandprofoundproblem,firstly,astothe
workingoftheimperialcourtasawholeasabureaucraticorgovernmen-
talsystemand,secondly,astothespecificroleoftheemperorindeciding
thecontentof imperialreplies,oreven,perhaps,intheactualcomposition
oftherelevanttexts.Theproblemisnotdecidedbythemerefactthatour
sourcesinvariablytalkas ifallformsofimperialpronouncementcamefrom
theemperorhimself.Nonetheless,twoconsiderationsservetoestablisha
frameworkforthequestion.Firstly,thereisnothinginourentireevidence
tosuggestthatanyformofimperialpronouncementcouldbeissuedinhis
name,orasfromhim,byanyimperialagencyfunctioningfromaplacefrom
whichtheemperorhimselfwasabsent—forinstancefromRome,iftheEm-
perorwerecurrentlyatanimperialvillaelsewhereinItaly,orintheprov-
inces,oroncampaign.Allimperialpronouncementsemanatedatleastfrom
theimmediatevicinity,orentourage,oftheemperor.
Secondly,itwouldbereasonable,andinaccordancewiththebasicchar-
acterbothof Romanpoliticallifeandof Romanlaw,toseeverbal,ororal,
pronouncementsasprimary,andtheirwrittenmanifestationsassecondary.
Romanlawdependedfundamentallyonverbalstatementsmadebyparties
tolegaltransactions,ratherthanonwrittendocuments:itisstrikingthatthe
legal writer Gaius,of the middle of the second centurya.d.,imaginesthe
emperorrequiringtheprincepsofaforeignpopulustomakeaverbalpromise
tokeepthepeace—‘‘pacemfuturamspondes?’’(Inst.3,94).Equally,forin-
stance,anedictumhadoriginallybeenliterallythat,apronouncement‘‘spoken
out’’tothepeoplebyamagistrate,normallyfromtheRostra,thespeaker’s
platformintheForuminRome.
Itisimportanttostressthattheroleofissuingverbalpronouncementsor
decisionsremainedanessentialelementinthefunctionsoftheemperor.He
deliveredorationes(speeches)totheSenate(thoughthesecouldbereadinhis
absencebyhisquaestor,thequaestor Caesaris);healsomadeorationesonocca-